A monument
Regarding “Foundation for peace” (Your Views, Nov. 2): I thought the letter ironic when the writer states, “You cannot bomb or desecrate your way to peace.”
That is exactly how you get peace — extreme violence and overwhelming force, destroying your enemy to the point they never ever want to fight with you again worked real well with Japan and Germany. When we don’t use overwhelming force we end up still dealing with the problems.
Peace has only been achieved through the threat of or use of force. This has been proven time after time, internationally and locally. Even the most diehard peace advocate will call the police when they are threatened, and the police show up prepared to use deadly and overwhelming force.
Every time peace advocates get involved in a conflict, they do nothing more than convince us to stop fighting so they can conduct peace talks with the losing side. The enemy then takes advantage of the lull in fighting to rearm, regroup and start the fight again as peace talks break down. In the end, we lose more people because of the peace talks.
Being a fan of the military and its use of overwhelming force, they need to train and hone their skills, and thus we have Pohakuloa. They risk their lives; the least we can do is give them a place to practice.
As for the Thirty Meter Telescope: I never met the man, but I think King Kamehameha would have been in favor of the TMT, a device that could look out into the heavens. Are you kidding me? He would have been a big fan, and as big as Maunakea is, I think he would have yielded a few acres for its construction.
He unified the islands. If you want to know how, read the first part of this letter, and he wouldn’t have been squeamish about the TMT. Rather than viewing it as sacrilege, I think he would have viewed it as a monument.
Roger Schweitzer
Volcano
The fish are gone
I recently took an excursion on the Atlantis submarine in Kona. It was a wonderful experience, with a tremendous discount for kama‘aina for the company’s anniversary.
That was the good news.
As a scuba diver, I can tell you that the bay is an ocean desert.
The aquarium fish harvesters have left nothing. The small fish they take are vital to the health and growth of the coral. The small fish heading up the food chain are the reason there is sportfishing.
That said, I’ve never scuba-dived in Kona. Everyone has told me there is no reason to because all the fish have been taken.
So this was the first time I have actually verified how empty this ecosystem really is.
We need a total ban of aquarium fish harvesting for four or five years until the ocean can recover.
Here’s hoping it’s not too late already.
Michael Xavier Mamczarz
Kurtistown
